Posted on 01 February 2022
In celebration of the Lunar Year of the Tiger, WWF reflects on progress made since 2010 when the 13 tiger range countries set out to achieve an unprecedented goal: doubling the number of tigers in the wild.
As we enter the 2022 Year of the Tiger, WWF's latest report on tiger conservation highlights that a centuries-long trend of wild tiger decline has finally been reversed — a rare and hard-fought conservation success story.
In the previous Year of the Tiger, 2010, the Global Tiger Initiative was formed and the first-ever international meeting for tiger conservation, the St. Petersburg Tiger Summit was convened. The event and initiative ignited international collaboration across the 13 tiger range country governments and the global conservation community towards a common goal for tiger recovery. This represents one of the greatest degrees of political will ever mustered for the protection of a single species to this day, as well as a clear turning point in the history of tiger conservation.
WWF’s Impact on Tiger Recovery 2010-2022 report summarises more than a decade of work and collaboration on tiger conservation and details both lessons learned and the unrelenting challenges for the future of this iconic big cat.
Some highlights captured in the new report include the designation of the world’s largest tiger protected area in China and a national park in Russia, Land of the Leopard, where tiger numbers have tripled. In Bhutan’s Royal Manas National Park, the report explains how the use of the Spatial Monitoring and Report Tool (SMART) and other conservation measures have resulted in a doubling of tiger numbers since 2012 — an incredible and hard earned conservation success.
The report also features the Khata Forest Conservation Area, which has been transformed from just 115 hectares of forest to 3,800, encompassing more than 6,000 community members and stewards of the land. This transboundary corridor between India and Nepal, recently awarded for Conservation Excellence, has been used by 46 individual tigers in the last five years.
There is progress worth celebrating on tiger recovery, but it is vital to acknowledge that these gains are fragile and have not been uniform across Asia’s subregions with perilous declines in Malaysia and tigers now likely extinct in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. While the global estimate for wild tigers may be on the rise, their range has continued to decline and tigers today are restricted to less than 5 per cent of their historic range. As we enter the Lunar Year of the Tiger, there is a pressing need to continue global tiger recovery efforts and strengthen all necessary actions to achieve a sustainable future for the species.
The pivotal moment for the future of tiger conservation will be the 2nd Global Tiger Summit on September 5th 2022 in Vladivostock, Russia. Heads of states and ministers from tiger range countries will gather with other world leaders, and intergovernmental bodies, NGOs, and conservation experts, to determine the next phase of the Global Tiger Recovery Plan. It will play a critical role in bringing the international community together, and reshaping the future of tiger conservation with a framework that is tiger-friendly, people centred, and embedded within the global and national economic agenda. There is also an opportunity to address range decline with an ambitious new goal for range expansion.
WWF will continue to support core tiger conservation activities including the effective management of protected areas, disruption of the illegal wildlife trade, and demand reduction for tigers and their parts and products. Beyond 2022, WWF will work with communities living in tiger landscapes to build connectivity, promote tiger reintroduction in the former range, reduce human-wildlife conflict and further strengthen transboundary conservation efforts. We will also ensure alignment with broader priorities of the environmental agenda, including climate change adaptation and mitigation, land degradation and ecosystem restoration and rewilding.
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“The 2010 Tiger Summit set in motion an unprecedented range of tiger conservation initiatives. The results of which demonstrate what can be achieved through long term and collaborative commitments to species recovery. The dedication of field teams, conservation partners and communities living in tiger landscapes are behind these extraordinary results” said Stuart Chapman, Leader of the Tigers Alive Initiative
“As we reflect on over a decade of WWF's support to tiger countries to increase global wild tiger numbers, let us not forget that tigers are still threatened by poaching and habitat loss. If we are to see this increase continue, governments must do more, particularly across parts of Southeast Asia where a tiger crisis rages. ” said Margaret Kinnaird, Leader of WWF Wildlife Practice
Notes to editor:
WWF is highlighting the significance of the Lunar New Year with diverse and global activations:
Release of the WWF’s Impact on Tiger Recovery 2010-2022 Report (Full Report)
The WWF Tiger Trail kicking off in Singapore on 26th February
The recent 2021 Tx2 Awards celebrating site based progress in two protected areas and one - community managed corridor in Nepal and India
Campaigns and national events across the world
For more information please contact:
Jennifer Roberts, Director of Development and Communications, WWF Tigers Alive Initiative
email:jroberts@wwf-tigers.org
Spriha Shrestha, Communications Officer, WWF Nepal
email:spriha,shrestha@wwfnepal.org
Images and spokespeople available at request.
About WWF
WWF is one of the world’s largest and most respected independent conservation organizations, with over 5 million supporters and a global network active in more than 100 countries and territories. WWF's mission is to stop the degradation of the Earth's natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature, by conserving the world's biological diversity, ensuring that the use of renewable natural resources is sustainable, and promoting the reduction of pollution and wasteful consumption. Visit www.panda.org/news for the latest news and media resources and follow us on Twitter @WWF_media
